


Verily, It Be the Nature of Dreams to End

by Pollyanna_nana



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Genre: Downfall Timeline Bonding, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I love him but also he must suffer, Insecurities, Legend having a bad time basically, Linked Universe, Mentions of Drowning, Nightmares, We bonding bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:13:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22300879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pollyanna_nana/pseuds/Pollyanna_nana
Summary: The nightmare was over, yet silent tears still rolled down Legend’s cheeks in response to the well of emotions still overflowing inside him. A calloused hand stroked his arm, rubbing small circles in the fabric of Legend’s nightshirt. It was warm, reminding the hero of the rough sand of the beach beneath bare feet. He relaxed, feeling exhaustion overtake his shaking form and lower the thundering in his mind to a dull buzz."Sometimes," Legend thought, "it's nice to be held."
Relationships: Hyrule & Legend (Linked Universe), Implied Link/Marin
Comments: 8
Kudos: 132





	Verily, It Be the Nature of Dreams to End

**Author's Note:**

> It's angst time for our favorite boy Legend, with some fluffy bonding thrown in at the end.

_The waves crashed on the beach, and he smiled_.

Legend wondered how many times he had been there, and for how long, taking in the vast blue surrounding the island of Koholint. Faintly, he could feel the soft warmth of a hand clasped over his, blissful and soothing. _It didn’t matter,_ he decided. 

In that moment, he was happy. 

He could have almost fallen asleep where he sat, if the bright sunlight on his face hadn't served as a reminder of the time of day. _It’s warm._ Absentmindedly, the Hylian boy dug into the sand with the tip of his boot. He wondered how long it would take to bury himself, surrounding his body with the warm mass and undoubtedly drawing the sweetest of chuckles from his dear companion...

Legend was pulled from sweet reverie by a newly absent feeling of a hand over his. He turned his head to and fro, looking to find its owner. Behind him by a mere few strides was a head full of red hair, hibiscus dancing to and fro as she ran. _"Catch me, Link,_ " came the voice of the girl, tinkling like the sound of bells and as light as the wind off a fairy’s wings. _Marin._

The boy named Link smiled, amused, and rose from his seat to make chase. _“The beach looks beautiful today_ ,” Link thought, _“Has it always been this way?”_ Confidently, he strode forward in pursuit of his companion, grin spreading as he considered how best to catch up with her. _“It wouldn’t hurt if I used a magic item, now would it?”_

He moved his legs rapidly, rhythmically as he had done countless times before, in preparation of a magically-charged dash. _“Let’s see her outpace me now,”_ he thought, when the familiar tingling of magic in his legs suddenly vanished. 

Link came to an all-to-abrupt halt, a jolt unlike anything he had felt before arcing from the ground to the tip of his spine. On instinct, his left leg shot out to brace himself, barely keeping him from tipping over into the soft sand. _"Did I catch my foot on something?_ " his mind murmured, tone a mixture of confusion and mild annoyance. Link looked down, expecting to see an old plant root, or perhaps a log.

_..._

_It was..._

_A hand?_

Link let out a noise of surprise, leg moving on instinct to shake his boot free of the offending hand that rose from seemingly nowhere. Eyes narrowing, he thought of his absent sword, then of _her_. 

Suddenly on high alert, Link snapped his head up toward where Marin had run, planning to call her name and warn her, confident in his ability to protect them both. _“I have to keep her safe,_ ” his mind called desperately. Dread built in the pit of his stomach as he realized there was no one in sight, no matter where his head swung could he catch a glimpse of that familiar red hair. In fact, everything seemed so… unnaturally still. The gentle call of the seagulls and the lapping of the water across the beach were absent, a growing hole left where their constant companionship had been. 

Panic rose in Link’s chest, and he bit back a sourness in his throat. _"Where had she gone?_ "

Both arms grasped his leg as he pulled, trying to wretch his ensnared boot out of the hand’s reach. Relief washed over Link as it quickly began to give way, leg sliding effortlessly upwards and away from the sand. The feeling quickly morphed into horror, however, at the realization that the hand joined his leg, and a large mass seemed to emerge with it. 

An entire _arm_ , then a _shoulder_ , then a _face_ emerged with it. _Her_ face. _Marin’s_ face.

Reeling, Link’s mind whirred with a cacophony of thoughts trying to rationalize what he saw below him. He _screamed_ as the arm began to recede back into the sand, taking _him_ with it. Link thrashed helplessly as his entire body was dragged below, unable to get a grip or stop the hand now tight against his ankle like an iron vice. 

He was sinking, he was _sinking, and no one was there to help him._

“ _It’s what you deserve,_ ” a voice taunted.

The warm temperature of the beach was replaced with a sudden chill as his head came under. Link gasped instinctively, lungs desperate for air. Ice cold sand filled his mouth and nostrils, tasting like the dankness and grime of ancient cavernous dungeons, causing him to sink ever faster. “ _Drowning,”_ came the panicked realization, _“I’m drowning, and on dry land.”_ Waves of nausea crashed over Link as a fear he didn’t even know he had overtook his psyche, leaving him powerless. He choked, feeling his stomach lurch as the bile rising in his throat mixed with sand. “ _I’m going to die here. I’m going to_ die-”

Though the pounding of his heart thundered deafeningly in his ears, his thoughts were suddenly swarmed by the sound of voices other than his own. He could hear them, all of them, the voice of Marin, of his uncle, of everyone he couldn't save. _“They’re right,”_ his mind squealed, _“They’re right they’re right they’re right they’re-”_ Their jeers and jabs were so personal, some thoughts he had never spoken aloud, some thoughts he never even knew he had, that cut him deeper than any blade possibly could. They flayed him alive, spreading him open and exposing all of his insecurities, shortcomings and all, those he had buried for longer than he could remember. “ _What made you think you had any right to forget, boy?_ ” his mind whispered deafeningly, a horrible chorus of voices long past and present. “ _The longer you run, the more of us_ you _make._ We _exist as long as_ you _do.”_

The ice cold grip that hung on Link’s shoulders like a metal vice suddenly tightened. Before, it had acted as a shackle, holding his limbs spread akimbo and allowing the twisted, writhing words of the voices to come and go as they pleased. However, it now took on a new feeling. It was warm, gentle, but firm, and seemed to be holding him up rather than dragging him further below. 

Link’s thrashing slowed, voices fading and his mind desperately gripping to the mysterious presence as a stranded man would grasp a shipwrecked mast, begging that it would hold his weight and take him safely to shore. He uttered a silent prayer of thanks to the goddesses whatever being had come to embrace him. Slack waters took the place of the raging torrent in his mind, head breaching the surface with a gasp of air sweeter than honey taffy. _“Thank you.”_

\----------------------------------------------------------

Legend's eyes fluttered open. Through blurred vision, he recognized the darkness their woodland camp. Blonde bangs hung limply in his line of sight, damp with sweat and unkempt from Legend’s thrashing. His chest heaved, taking in deep gulps of the crisp night air as if any one of them could be his last. “ _I’m okay,”_ relief washing through him, _“I’m alive. I’m_ alive! _”_

Something shifted behind Legend, and for the first time he became aware that he was no longer laying down as he had been falling asleep. Something, some _one,_ had wrapped their arms around the experienced hero, propping up his body and forcing Legend into a sitting position. Fluffy locks of brown hair glinted in the pale moonlight in the corners of his vision, indicating to Legend that whoever it was must be resting their head on his shoulder. Their voice came in almost a whisper, soft and reassuring and close to Legend’s ear.

"Hey, hey, it’s okay. It’s not real, Legend, I’ve got you, okay?”

_Hyrule._

He was with Hyrule, Legend realized, not on Koholint. At that, something scoffed from within him. _“Really, Link?”_ the words rang, condescending in tone, _“You should know better than that. That place was never really real, was it?”_

Having come to his senses, Legend frowned. What was he doing, showing weakness like this? To of all people, a trusted ally, and one that he respected. Someone _so much_ like him, yet so different. _“Pathetic, and to think you’ve had the gall to come to think of yourself as a mentor to this boy? A child like yourself, who cries out in the night in need of comfort?”_

Shame, wrapped in a concealing cloak of annoyance began to claw its way into the edges of Legend’s consciousness. He wanted to tell Hyrule off, insist that he _could do very well by himself, thank you very much_. But, try as he might, his traitorous body refused to budge an inch. His throat felt as if it were being constrained by the same force, clenched and hoarse. _“Was I screaming?”_

The nightmare was over, yet silent tears still rolled down Legend’s cheeks in response to the well of emotions still overflowing inside him. A calloused hand stroked his arm, rubbing small circles in the fabric of Legend’s nightshirt. It was warm, reminding the hero of the rough sand of the beach beneath bare feet. He relaxed, feeling exhaustion overtake his shaking form and lower the thundering in his mind to a dull buzz. 

" _Sometimes,_ " Legend thought, " _it's nice to be held._ "

**Author's Note:**

> Oop, there it be folks!! Based off a live write done in the Linked Universe Discord (and my first real fic, oh golly!) Hopefully not too rough around the edges, but I certainly hope to improve! 
> 
> I like to imagine that after the end of this fic, Legend ends up falling asleep in Hyrule's arms and they don't say anything about it the next day, but Legend sees to it that Hyrule's weapons stay nice and shiny for the next few weeks or so, ;)


End file.
